In an incident that was caught on video, Democratic Georgia state Rep. Park Cannon was taken into custody at the state’s Capitol on Thursday after she attempted to disrupt a live stream of Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signing into law a new and wide-ranging election reform measure in the state, Fox News reported.
Asked later about the incident, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden was “deeply concerned.”
“I think anyone who saw that video would have been deeply concerned by the actions that were taken by law enforcement to arrest her when she simply — by the video that was provided — seemed to be knocking on the door to see if she could watch a bill being signed into law,” Psaki told reporters, according to The Washington Times.
She went on: “The larger concern here, obviously beyond her being treated in the matter she was, is that law that was put into place.”
Biden admin condemns Georgia law
According to the Times, Psaki indicated that the president is opposed to “limitations” put in place under the new Georgia law.
Among other things, the 96-page measure “enacts new limitations on mail-in voting” and “expands most voters’ access to in-person early voting,” according to NPR.
It will also “streamline the election administration process at the local level,” although Democrats complain that part of that involves narrowing the window for requesting absentee ballots and requiring a photo ID to cast such ballots, as NPR notes.
“It should not be harder, it should be easier to vote,” Psaki said, according to The Washington Times. “People should be able to vote from home, they should be able to use absentee ballots,” the press secretary added. “There should be a range of restrictions that should be undone, not put into place. That is a grave concern, one [Biden] certainly shares with the elected official who was arrested.”
“Stop beating on the door”
According to Fox News, Cannon is facing charges of obstructing law enforcement “and preventing or disrupting General Assembly sessions or other meetings.”
She was arrested by state troopers outside of Kemp’s office. “She was instructed that no one was in the front office and to stop beating on the door,” an officer reportedly said.
Of course, the Biden administration wasn’t alone in objecting to Cannon’s arrest. Freshman Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) sounded off in a tweet published Thursday.
I stand with Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon (@Cannonfor58), who was arrested and CHARGED WITH A FELONY for … for what?
For *knocking on Gov. Kemp’s office door* as she tried to observe the cowardly closed-door signing ceremony for the voter suppression law. pic.twitter.com/hpp6ZQxo2r
— Jon Ossoff (@ossoff) March 26, 2021
The post Psaki says Biden admin is ‘deeply concerned’ over recent arrest of Georgia state Democrat first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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